The picture below is of the 747 I flew on from Seattle to Japan (Northwest Airline Government Charter) as it sits on the Yokota Air Base tarmac on mainland Japan before we took off for Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, Japan. The flight from Seattle, Washington to Yokota, Japan was 9 hours, 53 minutes. The flight from Yokota, Japan to Okinawa was 2 hours, 35 minutes, just to give you an idea of the flight times.
Well, I finally made it to Okinawa... a.k.a. "The Rock". Today marks my first full day, and I can't wait for the rest of "us" to get here so we can begin our adventure. No question about it, the trip here was long, but no real hassles... I'm sure Monte and Sebastian didn't enjoy any part of it, but they made it just fine. They are residing at 'Karing Kennels' on Kadena Air Base until I move into our house on 29 August. Pretty quick housing assignment as far as Okinawa goes. Most often it takes about two weeks to get a house, but we were lucky (or I planned it well enough in advance to help the process).
Our new home is a multi-plex (multi-family). I inspected it today, and it should do just nicely. A three bedroom, two and one-half bath with plenty of closet space and storage room, kitchen, and living room. It's two floors with the bedrooms upstairs. There are five apartments in our building, all in a line. We have an end unit (Unit F), so only neighbors on one side. The back yard isn't that large, but big enough for Monte and Sebastian to play in. I will put up some pictures and maybe a video tour when I can. The move-in date is set for 29 Aug. Although our household good shipment has not arrived yet, our express shipment is. That contains our necessities to live. Keep in mind that we weren't able to ship a lot of furniture due to weight restritions (we were allowed 3,600 lbs). So, most of our furniture will be provided by the government. The only furniture items we will have that are our own will be the two bed mattresses, and only our king bed.
Our sponsor has been great. He really knows the ins and outs of living here. He and his family have been here for four years. He was also nice enough to stock my temporary lodging with some snacks and drinks for the first few days until I get oriented.
My next step is to attend a new-comer's orientation, which takes all day and is mandated by the Commanding General. It basically informs all new personnel about pertinent policies and provides information about the culture and do's & don'ts. After that, I can take my driving test and get my driver's license for Okinawa (they drive on the opposite side of the road here).
Tomorrow, I will be looking for our cell phones to use while we are on Okinawa. Once our home is setup, we will have a VoIP (Voice Over Intenet Protocol) telephone line at our house. It will most likely be with Vonage (or some other similar company), and will provide a U.S. phone number that anyone from the U.S. can call without having to pay international telephone charges. I think we'll get a Massachusetts number. Just keep in mind that Okinawa is 13-hours time difference (add 13-hours to the east coast time). There is no daylight saving time here either, which means that when the clocks go back in the fall in the U.S., our time doesn't change. So, you'll have to add 14 hours once that occurs (east coast time).
Well, there's a lot of changes taking place in our lives, and plenty of adventures to be had. We'll keep you posted! I hope all is well with everyone. Take care, and Godspeed!
~Rob
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